"Discount
card that offers more"
Tuesday, May 2, 2000
By Wong Sai Wan
THE excess supply
of golf courses have driven down green fees to a
very affordable level. This in turn has caused a
lot of headache for companies running golf
discount cards because the low prices are much
less than even the discounts they had obtained
from the numerous golf courses all around the
country.
So it was with
much surprise when my mate Alvin told me about
the Asia Pacific Amateur Golfers (APAG)
programme. In my mind, I said: Oh no, not another
discount card." With a shake of the head, I
asked Alvin how much it cost to be a member and
he said RM588 for a year. I then sat down with
him to tell him the bad news.
At RM588, I told
Alvin, I could play in Kundang Lakes for more
than 15 times and what more I can play in almost
every course in the Klang Valley by just paying
cheap green fees without having to be tied down
to the clubs linked to the discount card company.
Discount cards
used to be prestigious because it could get you
into courses which are usually members-only
clubs. But its no longer true as there are very
few clubs that do not accept walk-ins--there are
only three out of 52 in the Klang Valley. As I
was the supposed golf expert, Alvin agreed and
never gave any more thought to the offer.
But Alvin, I have
got more bad news for you; I was wrong about
APAG--especially after meeting up with Franz
Swoboda who is the man responsible for coming up
with this programme last week.
Over dim-sum
lunch, Swoboda--an Austrian who has been in
Malaysia for about a decade and now speaks
complete with the lah' and phrases like
kiasu'--explained that APAG was more than just a
discount card.
"You get a
homeclub--something no other card offers. Our
home club is Bukit Beruntung. Our members can
play there and enjoy the facility as though they
are actual members of the club," said
Swoboda who is the managing director of RGT
Sports which is the big golf shop at Kelana Jaya.
The card programme
(as Swoboda calls it) is actually quite
attractive in that not only do you get discounted
green fees at some pretty expensive clubs but
also quite a number of free games. All members
can play at Bukit Beruntung (located just off the
NSE about a 30min drive from the Damansara Toll)
as many times as they like and even on weekends.
Just like ordinary club members, they must book
the flight time for Saturday, Sundays and public
holidays. Like the club members, the card holders
only pay for the buggy fees.
"On top of
this, we will be having a club of the month
programme where at selected time, members can
play at certain clubs for free," Swoboda
said, adding that Bukit Unggul will be the first
club of the month and seven other clubs have been
lined up for the rest of the year. During that
one month period, members will be able to play
unlimited rounds of golf at that club.
The club of the
month programme will be held monthly starting
from June.
Swoboda has so far
got 40 clubs all over the country to sign up for
the discount fees (between 10% and 20%) but the
Bukit Beruntung home club and club of the month
programme itself has made the RM588 price tag
quite attractive. On top of these, upon signing
up you will be given a goodie bag worth RM350 and
if you sign up for two years, it will only cost
RM888.
(Yes, Alvin. I am
convince APAG is quite a good deal. So for
further information contact RGT at www.asiapacificamateurgolfers.com
or call 7874-4560)
But why can
Swoboda get such good deals from the clubs he had
approached?
Simple actually.
Its a buyers market as far as golf membership
goes. It is estimated that the number of golfers
grow by 20% per year but with over 200 courses
throughout the country, it will take another
decade before there would be a shortage.
Swoboda has been
able to get what he wants because clubs are
desperate for traffic. It will be very unlikely
that four APAG members will play together at a
single club. At least one of the foursome will
pay green fees and all of them will pay buggy
fees. All this adds up to faster and higher
turnover. Its a case of some business is better
than none at all.
This card
programme will be especially attractive to those
who picked up the game in the past two to three
years. The cost of membership is still in the
tens of thousands but yet green fees have been
falling. There are more homeless golfers (those
without clubs) than those with membership and the
RM588 membership fee is within the reach of these
people who are usually salaried workers.
However, Swoboda
realises this and pledges to continue to upgrade
the programmes for members so that it will grow
up with them.
Many members lose
interest in discount cards because after a while,
golfers long to have a home course and to have a
full fledge membership. It will be a challenge
for Swoboda and RGT but if what had happen in the
US is any indication, the only way out would be
for discount cards to start owning golf courses.
Article
provided with courtesy from The Star Publications.
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